Many persons working in offices spend long hours at their desks and appreciate opportunities to prop up their feet while reading or resting. Frequently, such persons resort to propping up their feed on desk tops, which tend to be too high for many persons, or on drawer edges, which tend to be very uncomfortable, particularly if ottomans are not allowed or do not fit conveniently in their offices. Although prior efforts have been made to equip desks with footrests, those efforts have not been entirely satisfactory.
As disclosed in Davis U.S. Pat. No. 2,986,437, a footrest comprising a cushioned, foot-supportive panel is attachable to a drawer of a desk, via channel members fastened to the footrest and adapted to fit over upper edges of side walls of the drawer. Significant disadvantages of the footrest are that the footrest must be removed before the drawer can be opened or closed and that the footrest must be stored within the drawer or elsewhere.
As disclosed in Kinnebrew U.S. Pat. No. 3,528,717, a footrest comprising a cushioned, foot-supportive panel is mounted within a drawer of a desk, via a mechanism enabling the footrest to be raised to a usage position above the drawer and to be lowered to a storage position for storage within the drawer. The mechanism biases the footrest to the upper position and latches the footrest in the lowered position. A significant disadvantage of the footrest is that the drawer is occupied by the mechanism and by the footrest in the lowered position so that the drawer cannot be put to normal uses of a drawer.
As disclosed in Wilkins U.S. Pat. No. 3,141,701, a footrest comprising a single yoke serving as a foot support or comprising a double yoke serving as two foot supports rests on a desk or is fastened to an upper edge of a drawer. Although the footrest is compact, a significant disadvantage of the footrest is that the footrest is not susceptible to being provided with a cushioned, foot-supportive panel, because of the single or double yoke.
There has been a need, to which this invention is addressed, for a better way to provide a desk, credenza, or similar article of furniture with a footrest having an expansive, foot-supportive panel, which may be cushioned.